The Royal 50 family consists of three generations that were produced from 1960 through 1963.  They represented Zenith’s first entry into the shirt pocket sized transistors and was their answer to the small pocket styles coming out of Japan like the Sony TR610 and the Hitachi 666 both of which started in 1958.  The Royal 50’s offered great sound quality for their size and were built with high quality componets that allowed them to stand up to years of use.   All three generations have 6 transistors and produce 80 milliwatts of undistorted sound.  They are powered by 2 AA batteries.  They measure 4.25″ tall, 2.5″ wide, and 1.25″ deep and weight only 8 ounces. 

Because of their styling and performance, Royal 50’s remain a popular choice of collectors today.  However, with the increasing competition from overseas and the constant introduction of new pocket-sized radios, this series had a much shorter life span than it’s big brother (the Royal 500) so they are not quite as easy to find. 

Check out these Royal 50 Family radios.

Royal 50
Royal 50H
Royal 55C Converta
Royal 50L
Royal 59-G and 59-1G